Code of ethics question

[sloan]

@rfeditor

@artichoke

3. Mr. Bachler’s suggested amendment to the SOC involves suggestions of cheating, not insulting remarks about playing and organizing skill. So it seems that regarding the case described at the top of the thread, this would be an irrelevant modification to an irrelevant document.

4. That said, I think the SOC is a disaster that tries to mandate niceness and ends up squashing disagreement and open discussion of important issues on the EB.

No doubt to everyone’s surprise, I more or less agree with you on this (though I think “disaster” is too strong). The problem with the SOC is that it was written in response to actions by specific individuals, most of whom are no longer around. Instead of setting general, neutral standards, it lists behaviors that someone found distateful. This is lousy technique in lawmaking. It’s also harder to justify now on pragmatic grounds, since with the increased information flow any Board member who makes an obnoxious pest of himself will soon be outed to the voters. (This might be an argument for somewhat shorter terms, however.)

Interesting as it is, it seems to me that discussion of the SOC is off-topic for this thread.